The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1887-10-11
A COLLECTION OF HORRORS



Human Skins Used for Purses. Slippers and
Other Things.
From the Philadelphia News.
l notice with surprise that there is consider
able ado in Paris the fact that two purses were
made from pieces of the skin of the recently be-
headedmurderer, PIanzini and presented to police
officials, who threatened with removal i'll consee
quence thereof l did not know that the French
were oyeI-sqeamish in such n alters and certainly
was not aware that we had advanced beyond them
i'll the indifference with which view the horTis
bic / am certain that all of yoI shuddered when
you read how the crowd that surrounded the gull
lotine u yht for opportunities to dabbe their hand
kerchefs in the blood which had spurted FROM
Pran2inis headlcss trunk. hat was simply dras
matte ghastlincss. But the more practical ghast1~
ness whereby the Woman-Slayer's mGrvelousy white
skn-which it is said fascinated his victims and
lured them to their doom-was put to a better use
than ii had ever known lefore, awakened, am
sure, sympathetic horror i'll this country GER
tainly in this city.
Pr0nzini's body was given oyer to the doctors, and
when once have made that disposition of q
corpse, We don / bother ourselves about what be-
comes o. it, We know in indefinite sort of way
that medical students hack at them i'll order TO
accustom themselves to like treatment Of tie liv
ing, We know that some ofour fellow men have
their bones scraped clean and then wired together
and forever after dangle in doctors closet or in
college class room. But of the many other service
able uses to which some of our deiunct brethren
put we know but little. l remember that twoor
three years ago ! incidentally referred to a promi4
nent physician of this city wearing shoes made from
the skin OF negroes He still adheres to that Gus
tom, insisting that the tanned hide of an African
makes the most enduring and the most pliable
leather known to man.
Only last week met him upon the street with q
brand new pair of Shoes looked at his foot wear,
I always do--his pedal coverings have an rresist-
ble iascinat o. for me-and said with smile, as
the down trodden African sill beneath your feet?'
In the most materoffact way and without the
shadow Of smile he answered 81 suppo you
mean to inquire if still wear shoes made of the
skin OF negro. certainly d. and I don't pros
pose changing IN that respect until find Il leather
that is softer and will last longer and present Il bet.
ter appearance. / have no sentiment about this
matter. Were I a southerner-in the American
sense of that sYordI might be accused of being c-
tuated by race prejudice But I a foreigner
by birth, although now American citizen by nat.
uralizaton. | fought in the rebellion that tho
blacks might be freed. Iwoul1 use white mans
skin for the same purpose if it were sufficiently
thick, aud if any one had desire to wear my epis
dcrmiS upon his feet after l have drawn my last
breath he has my ante-mOTtem permission
The doctors shoes always exhibit a pecUilrly
rich lusTousnes5 in their backness He assures me
that they never hurt his feet. The new pair he was
using when 1 last saw him, emitted no creaking
sound, and appeared comfortable as though they
had been month Their predecessors he
told me had been in constant use for eight months.
He obtains the skin from the bodies of negroes
which have been dissected in one of our big medic
cal colleges The best leather is obtained from the
| thighs The soles are formed by placing several
layers of leather together The skin is prepared by
tanner at WomelSdorf, sixteen miles from Read
ing. The shoes are fashioned by a French shoes
maker, OF this city, who knew nothing of the true
character of the leather but who often wonders &C
its exquisite soothness, and says that it excels the
finest French calfskin.
Do not FOR a moment think that this doctor pre-
seuts an exceptional case of one who puts the hue
man skin TO q practical use Medical students fre.
quently display great variety of articles in which
the skin or bones of some dasected mortal has been
gruesomely utilized and in bursts of generosity they
sometimes present these to their friends, who prize
them highly. One Of the dudest dudes in town carr
res match safe covered with portion of the skin
ofa beautiful young woman who found drown.
ed in the Delaware river 1t still retains its natural
/ color Another young with whom ! am ac>
quainted carries cigar case made OfnegrO skin g
classify skull and cross bones appearing on side
In relief one of the best known surgeons in this
country, y no resides in this city, has beautiful in.
struIncnt case entirely covered with leather made
/ from an Africans skin young society lady Of
ofthis city wears beautiful pair Of dark slippers.
the remarkable lustrousness OF whose leather inyl.
/ riably eXctes the admiration of her friends when
/ they see them. The young doctor who presented
[ them 70 her recently returned from an extended
foreign tour, and he told her that he had purchased
/ them from Turk in Alexandria and that he did not
J KNOW NlHl hlIt OF leather they were made DuE
/ he supposed it was the skin Of some wild animal.
! As 4 matter Of fact, the skin came from q negro
/ cGdaycrwhch Cnce was prone on Jefferson college
/ dissectus table, and the leather was prepared in
/ Womeisdorf The rosettes on the slippers were
/ deity fashioned from the negro's kinky hair
Gou may think all this very CHASTITY and very
dreadful, but as the doctors say it is nothing when
( you become accustomed to it, Medical men natua
rally become callous in such matters, and death
loses for them many of its telroTs until, Of course
they themselves have to look the grim monster
III the face. have seen young medical students
who were most tasidous in ordinary matters place
their lighted cigars on the bat skin of the corpse
they ,u Ting while they erred more closely at
the artery they were studying, and when the exam.
ination was completed, pick up the weed and renew
their sm0king. And even in this matter Of the utili
cation Of the human skin medical men have ancent
precedent 10 guide them, In Palermo, Italy, the
judge SD VI Oh benches covered with the skins OF
Iaa,aguctors who have been executed for onenses
against the law. Can you imagine a spectacle more
calculated " strike terror 20 the hearts OF eyd0crs.